Illustration Friday.
---
Technorati tags: illustration friday; simple; incurable_hippie; Valentine.
About me? Mad, disabled, in debt, feminist, radical, angry, pacifist, warrior, radio 4 listener, geek, flower-power chick... About Hippie blog? Ramblings, photos, fury, giggles and musings about love, peace, friendship, madness, happiness, the state of the world, my life, cool pics, my health and general ranting...
---
Technorati tags: grief; bereavement; incurable_hippie; anniversaries.
---
Technorati tags: Art; craft; incurable_hippie; inspiration; art techniques; creativity.
"we take seriously any allegations of mistreatment, and those will be investigated very fully indeed."
---
Technorati tags: anti-war; Iraq; incurable_hippie; peace anti-violence;.
---
Technorati tags: lists; incurable_hippie.
---
Technorati tags: strawberries; herbs; incurable_hippie; houseplants; anti-car; growing fruit.
---
Technorati tags: ATCs; Artist Trading Cards; incurable_hippie; fairy; insomnia; sleep; papercraft.
---
Technorati tags: word beads; incurable_hippie.
---
Technorati tags: BBC Radio 4; UK Theme; incurable_hippie; petition; radio.
Sheffield/Nation Wide Protest against the Incapacity Benefit Proposals.
Saturday 4 February, 1.00pm
Town Hall, Sheffield
Bring homemade placards, etc
there wll be speakers and some music, etc...
And
Call for simultaneous peaceful protests across the UK,
The Gov’t has finally announced what its plans are for
incapacity benefit and claimants and in SWAN’s view,
it is very very draconian and unpleasant. The changes
are the biggest in welfare for over sixty years(see
below), we are calling on all decent and caring
people, claimants, campaigners, activists, faith
groups, churches, individuals to support our call and
peacefully protest in your locality
It’s going to get even tougher
There is to be an even tougher and brutal regime for
most on incapacity benefit (IB) (it is extremely
difficult to claim IB now.) Benefits will be cut by
over 25.00 and will only rise when a claimant looks
for work, there will be even more stringent medical
assessments and tougher requirements to seek work or
lose benefit. Employment advisers will be placed in
G.P’s surgeries to ‘spy’ on the sick. Swan is already
hearing from a number of disabled people who are
terrified of these changes, they are saying that the
‘disability benefits‘regime is almost unbearable now’,
and how can it be worse!
>From the Guardian
‘'New claimants will face a tougher entry route and
more demanding tests on the benefit, renamed the
employment and support allowance.
Responses to the reforms
Already reactions are coming in: Macmillan Cancer
Relief feared "workfare-style compulsion" for sick and
disabled people, saying ‘it had already had to
intervene to stop chemotherapy patients and those with
a terminal diagnosis being called to work interviews’.
Of course, people should have help when and if they
are ready to go back to work, but what about the
Employer, are they ready for this? SWAN will also ask
why are the reforms ‘target led’ with the aim of
getting one million back into work? If the reforms are
so good , why does there have to be sanctions and
co-ercion? This approach will mean many many thousands
of the most vulnerable in our society who simply
cannot work will face such co-ercion and harrassment.
Further, where are all these jobs going to come from?
unemployment is now rising and employers themselves
admit they discriminate against people with
disabilities. The figures the Govt gives are
disengenous as well, fraud in IB is neglible (around
2% according to the DWP) and a large number of people
who could claim (for example those with terminal
illness) do not even know they are eligible! Having
work advisers in G.P surgeries will put added pressure
on sick people and one can argue it will compromise
the GP/patients relationship and is an infringement of
civil liberties.
SWAN will campaign vigorously against these reforms
and calls on all allies, friends, etc to do the same.
Finally, those who would call diasabled people:
scroungers, ‘leadswingers, etc, realise that 'these
people' are not others, different, from outer
space,they are us and one day, certainly as you age,
it could be you.
Resources:
excellent balanced summary of the changes here.
Disability Alliance, challenging the myths.
Sheffield Welfare Action Network.
swansheffield@yahoo.co.uk.
---
Technorati tags: incapacity benefit; disability; incurable_hippie; poverty.
---
Technorati tags: intentions; incurable_hippie.
---
Technorati tags: whale; Thames; incurable_hippie; London.
With spring on the way, now is the time to start thinking about whether to buy new plants for your garden or balcony. Investigate the Postcode Plants Database to find out which plants are local to your area before you make any purchases. These will encourage local wildlife, and will be better suited to local conditions, so will need less maintenance than exotic species. Visit http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/postcode-plants/
---
Technorati tags: gardening; wildlife; incurable_hippie; local.
---
Technorati tags: school; child abuse; incurable_hippie; search results; UK government.
---
Technorati tags: scary; Barbie; incurable_hippie; clowns; jewellery; time.
---
Technorati tags: amarillo; funny; incurable_hippie; travel.
In the past week, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has received about 10,000 inquiries
[...]
The recent publication of Shouldn't I Be Feeling Better by Now?, a collection of people's experiences in analysis, has reignited the 'cure or con' debate. It claims that about one in four clients either deteriorates in treatment or shows no signs of recovery.
Virginia Ironside, one of Britain's best-known agony aunts, revealed that she had spent £54,000 and hundreds of hours on the couch. Her conclusion? Therapy is fraud. 'I became sucked into the destructively seductive world, always hoping I might find understanding and peace through knowing myself better,' she wrote. 'But I can't help feeling angry at being manipulated when I was at my most vulnerable into investing so much money and time in therapists who, truthfully, only made me feel worse.' (More here...).
---
Technorati tags: therapy; psychotherapy; incurable_hippie; misery; ethics.
---
Technorati tags: cranberries; fruit; incurable_hippie; yuck.
---
Technorati tags: Charles Kennedy; Liberal Democrats; incurable_hippie; alcoholism; addiction; googlebomb; exxonmobil; coke.